National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Masked Ball at the Opera
  • Overview
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

Manet came from a well–to–do family, and this painting provides a glimpse of the sophisticated Parisian world he loved. He was uncomfortable in the countryside, preferring instead the finery of the city. These elegant men and coquettish young women are attending a masked ball held each year during Lent. "Imagine," ran a description in the newspaper Figaro, "the opera house packed to the rafters, the boxes furnished out with all the pretty showgirls of Paris. . . . " There is little doubt about the risqué nature of the evening, where masked young women, likely respectable ladies concealing their identities, scantily clad members of the Parisian demimonde, and well–dressed young men all mingle together.

Manet sketched the scene on site, but painted it over a period of months in his studio. He posed several of his friends—noted writers, artists, and musicians—and even included himself in the crowded scene. He is probably the bearded blond man at right who looks out toward the viewer. At his feet, a fallen dance card bears the painter's signature.

At the edges of the horizontal painting—a format Manet used often—figures end abruptly. At top, legs dangle over a railing. In contrast to the self–contained compositions of academic art, we are instantly aware that we see only a part of the scene and that it extends beyond the picture frame.

Inscription

lower right: Manet

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

Jean-Baptiste Faure [1830-1914], by 1873; (Faure sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 29 April 1878, no. 40, bought in); Jean-Baptiste Faure until at least 1884. (Durand-Ruel et Cie, Paris and New York); sold 16 January 1894 to Henry Osborne Havemeyer [1847-1907], New York;[1] by inheritance to his wife, née Louisine Waldron Elder [1855-1929], New York; by inheritance or gift to Mrs. Horace Havemeyer [née Doris Anna Dick, 1890-1982]; gift 1982 to NGA.

[1] Frances Weitzenhoffer, The Creation of the Havemeyer Collection, 1875-1900, Ph.D. diss., The City University of New York, 1982: 225.

Exhibition History

1884
Exposition Manet, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1884, no. 69.
1895
Exposition of Paintings by Edouard Manet, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1895, no. 29.
1982
Manet and Modern Paris, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982-1983, no. 39, repro.
1983
Manet, Grand Palais, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1983, no. 138, repro.
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 24, repro.
1993
Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1993, no. 357, pl. 196.
1994
Paris in 1874: The Year of Impressionism, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1994, no. 79, repro.
1998
Manet, Monet, and the Gare Saint-Lazare, Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998, no. 26, fig. 140.
2010
Bilder einer Metropole: Die Impressionisten in Paris (Images of a Capital - The Impressionists in Paris), Museum Folkwang, Essen, 2010-2011, no. 45, repro..
2011
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 26, repro.

Bibliography

1939
Venturi, Lionello. Les archives de l'impressionnisme. 2 vols. Paris and New York, 1939: II:205
1975
Rouart/Wildenstein 1975, no.216.
1977
Hanson, Anne Coffin. Manet and the Modern Tradition. New Haven and London, 1977:42
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 450, no. 652, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 247, repro.
1989
Distel, Anne. Les collectionneurs des impressionnistes. Amateurs et marchands. Paris, 1989:78, repro.
1989
Nochlin, Linda. The Politics of Visions: Essays on Nineteenth-Century Art and Society. New York, 1989: 75+, repro.
1990
Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Exh. cat. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990: no. 24, repro.
1991
Coman, Florence E. Joi de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 10, repro.
1991
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 9, 297, color repro.
1992
Carr-Gomm, Sarah. Manet. London, 1992: 106, repro.
1995
Callen, Anthea. The Spectacular Body: Science, Method and Meaning in the Work of Degas. New Haven and London, 1995:70, repro.
1997
Bailey, Colin B. Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age. Exh. cat. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, in association with National Gallery of Canada Ottawa, 1997:no. 74, repro.
1997
Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism, 1997, no. 95, repro.
1998
Manet, Monet, and the Gare Saint-Lazare. Exh. cat. Musée d'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998: no. 26.
2013
Alsdorf, Bridget. Fellow Men: Fantin-Latour and the Problem of the Group in Nineteenth-Century French Painting. Princeton, 2013: 193, 197-198, color plate 28.

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